Wenchin’ Ain’t Easy – Pirates of the Caribbean

Pirates of the Caribbean has always been pretty easy to shoot as far as dark rides go but often very challenging to edit properly thanks to the lighting and the awful orange color casts that came with it. Fortunately all that appears to be a thing of the past.

I knew the lighting had received a major upgrade in the latest refurbishment but you never know how that’s going to translate into the camera. First I have to say the new lighting in person is absolutely gorgeous. On top of the improved animatronics that now appear more life like the lighting is a dramatic improvement that really makes the scenes come to life and feel more real.

Fortunately this carries over very well into the photos. Going through my Pirates of the Caribbean shots from this trip I can say already that they are best looking shots I now have of this ride. First of all, everything is lit just right so that areas that should be dark are dark, and areas that should be lit are lit. I was able to get really great exposures that needed minimal adjustment compared to in the past. Additionally the color was much more accurate and needed less correction than in the past. Ultimately this made for an image much closer to what I saw in person and a much cleaner final result. This will certainly be a fun ride to photograph for years to come with these changes making it feel fresh again.